For weeks since the conclusion of a multinational agreement on the Iran nuclear deal, President Obama has been urging Senate Democrats to rally behind him.
After Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell promised a resolution that would invalidate the deal, Obama assured them that he would swiftly veto the measure.
The problem was that Democrats, led first by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), began to defect on the deal, leading to concern about whether Republicans could muster enough numbers to override the veto.
With the goal of 34 votes in favor of the measure to prevent the 67 needed for an override, Obama had to convince a handful of holdouts to jump onboard.
At the close of last week, it appeared that Republicans had the upper hand on pulling the remaining votes into their coalition.
But this week the tide turned with a number of Democrats joining their colleagues. Wednesday’s announcement by Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that she will support the deal became the 34th vote in Obama’s pocket.
Reports circulated that, should this eventuality come to pass, McConnell would abandon efforts to pass the resolution once Obama’s veto became secure.
